Lessons Learnt in NM4210

NM4210 is a great course for learning about just how ambiguous user experience design is. I appreciated the professor's view that there is no set approach to user experience design. This course gave me the motivation to learn more about this topic and to keep my mind open about different methods in conducting user experience research. 

Here are just some the things I learned in this course:

Identifying your user

I learnt that when you design a product, you should design it for a particular user (as opposed to designing it for everyone). This way, at the very least, the people who fit your target user description, will enjoy your product. If you try to design for everybody, there is a chance no body will like your product. Also, if you design a product that is VERY successful with a particular group, then other people will start to adapt to your product even though it was not necessarily designed for them at first. I.e. PC users convert to MAC even though MAC was not designed to suit PC users.

The brand over the product

The experience you create through your brand is more important than the product itself. For example, people trust Honda. Some people will buy a more expensive, smaller engine, more mundane looking car, just because it is made by Honda.

Create your own niche

Even though a product, a service, or a particular idea already exists on the market, it doesn't mean innovation stops there. There is always a niche market that someone has not identified. For example, cellular phones were not uncommon when Research in Motion (RIM) developed their first Blackberry. However, RIM found a largely untapped market of phones for work and business communication. If you look at RIM's earlier line of Blackberry(s), they were not as good looking as say the Motorola Razor. However, the Blackberry has outlived those trendy phones and continues to gain more user subscriptions.

Final Project

My final project was completed with 3 other classmates (Peter La, Babak Assadi, Zach Jama). Our project was based the need for teenagers to obtain financial knowledge. The product we came up with was a online game-based interactive game called Money Sense.

The design process we went through included:

Phase 1. Needs Analysis

In this phase, we determined a need that was in the scope of being tackled within a 2-3 month project. We thought about the different types of businesses in finance and found banks to be suitable for tackling this need. We roughly defined the customers as teenagers and/or young adults who would most benefit from an increase in financial knowledge.

Phase 2. User Research

Upon talking to students in NUS, we determined that financial knowledge should be taught from a young age to have a significant impact once they are older. With this in mind, we chose our target audience to be in the range of 12 to 21 years old. We defined them to be people who do not have a good financial background but have an interest to learn.

Phase 3. Proposed Product

The proposed product is an online game which allows users to become interested about financial management. The product would be offered by a bank. The incentive for parents to sign up their kids for this is discounts of banking fees. Ideally, the game would be fun, and the users would recommend it to their friends.

Phase 4. Low Fidelity Solution

For the low fidelity solution, we created a game on paper. The user would read short paragraphs describing a story-like scenario. At the end of a paragraph, the user would be confronted with a decision (i.e. save your money or spend it). The game progresses based on the users inputs. The feedback we got for this low fidelity solution was that it was too intensive for the user, and that it needs to be more fun than informative.

Phase 5. High Fidelity Solution

The low fidelity solution we created of the game was a modified version of Jeopardy. The questions are separated in different categories, and each question had a bet associated with it. The game was created in MS Access, while the welcome page is built on html. The feedback we got was that the game on MS Access created a discontinuity in the user experience. I.e. there was a break/pause between the website and accessing the game. Also, there were some comments abut the colour scheme and use of graphics.

Phase 6. Evaluation

Based on user testing and user evaluation, we were able to roughly gauge how well our product performed. We moved the game from MS Access to an actual web game as a result of the feedback. In addition, we added some features that the users requested. Having made these changes, we saw improvements in the evaluation of our product.

Reflections on "User Research Smoke & Mirrors" article

This article is a series of blog posts by Christopher Fahey, who works for Behaviour (user experience design firm), on his opinion of scientific user research.

In short, I think Christopher is trying to make these points:

1. User experience design is not a science but an art. 

I agree with this view. You cannot create good user experience by following a set of formulas or methods. Design by nature requires creativity, and that is sometimes not reproducible. 

2. Research and heuristic results are easily misinterpreted and mostly unnecessarily for the design process (other than for organization politics)

I believe research and heuristic methods are quite necessary and non-trivial in the design process. However, the results should definitely be taken with a grain of salt, as they are highly subjective. I disagree with the author's view that a "good" designer will instinctively "know things" without the research. I do agree that it is easier to convince management to make a decision based on research results. I do not think anything is wrong about this, as it keeps everybody honest. I.e. Someone should not get paid to make recommendations based on no research and no evidence.

3. Good design process does not make great products. Good designers make great products.

I do not think this comment is properly backed up by fact (other than the example on IDEO - which in my opinion has a great design process AND a great team of designers). I think great designers do follow some form of design process, although they may not stick to it like it is law. That is what makes designing a mix of science and art. 

Overall, I think this article points out some valid arguments as it relates to user experience design. The whole idea is there is no set method to perform user research and definitely no set way to interpret the data. Thus, design is really based on the designer's experience, education, and/or talent.

Assignment 3 - Learning Experience in Lecture Theatres

Two major methods of analysis were used to analysis student's learning experience in lecture theatres: Ethnography and Laddering. 

Ethnography was done by recalling some of the observations on students' behaviours while attending a lecture. In general, it was found that most lecture theatres are not ergonomically designed, that overuse of powerpoint bores students, and that lecture theatres do not provide the space and power plug for laptops. 

Laddering approach was done by interviewing students about what they think of their learning experience in lecture theatres. Similar points were mentioned about lack of seat comfort, not being able to see properly, and the low level of interest in lectures.   

Designs and corrections were identified that could improve students learning experience. Some of these points include:

• circular lecture theatre design
• better control of temperature
• make classes smaller and interactive
• design for laptop use

Assignment 2: Four Pleasure Analysis

Elizabeth White is a 39 years old American woman. She is well-kept and physically fit for her age. She is married to a husband who is quite capable and, therefore, does not have to work. Since the couple do not have children or the plans to have any kids in the future, Elizabeth often has to find things to do when her husband is working. For this, she has many friends to spend the day with - shopping, gossiping at coffee shops, and attending parties.

Elizabeth's relatively undemanding lifestyle has caused her to constantly compare herself to other females around her. She is also starting to become more and more worried about her age. As such, she has a habit of buying expensive clothing and accessories to compensate for her insecurity. When with her friends, Elizabeth does not let down her guards and is often trying to impress them. 

Elizabeth's Four Pleasure Framework

Physio-pleasure:

• likes to stay physically fit and attractive for her age (Need)
• wears expensive and beautiful clothing + accessories (Need)
  
• uses perfumes when going out (Appreciation Pleasure)

Socio-pleasure:

• keeps in touch with her friends all the time (Need)
• likes to appear as if she is the centre of attention (Appreciation Pleasure)
• impresses her friends (Appreciation Pleasure)

Psycho-pleasure:

• needs to be constantly re-assured with praises from others (Need)
• likes suspense movies and fast music (Appreciation Pleasure)

Ideo-pleasure:

• she does not have her own principals, she follows trends and what is represented by the mass media
• it is very important to her that others agree with her views (Need)
• is pro-America but doesn't know much about the rest of the world
• believes she is a role-model in society (Appreciation Pleasure)

Table 1. Four-pleasure Analysis of Elizabeth

Physio	Socio	Psycho	Ideo
staying fit and healthy	keeping in touch	sense of security	likes to be agreed with
beauty	center of attention	entertainment	pro-America
smelling good	belonging to a group		role-model

Hand Phone Design for Elizabeth:

A suitable hand phone design for Elizabeth would satisfy her needs and appreciation from all four pleasures (Physio, Socio, Psycho, and Ideo). 

Specifications of the hand phone's appearance:

• larger in size so she can show it off in the public, and also gives her a sense of security
• uses many colours, but carefully matched
• should have a large logo showing which company made the phone to satisfy her appreciation of belonging to a group
• phone should be part of a reputable series, and on the higher end (i.e. Nokia N-series)
• should be a slider phone, as this design is currently the trendiest
• customizable faceplates

Specifications of the hand phone's features:

• many features such as games, web, movie & mp3 player, and thousands of ring tones, so she can be entertained by it and show it off
• phone reception should be excellent because being able to communicate all the time is important for her
• GPS because she travels a lot
• be able to take high quality pictures with her friends
• battery life should be exceptionally long

Other Specifications:

• designed and made in America
• uses a certain % of recyclable material to make her feel like she's a role-model

Assignment 1: Products and Emotions

The product I have chosen to compare is pen. The pen is a simple item that has more than one function than writing. One may own many different types of pens for different reasons. One may purchase a pen that is physically unique and appealing for the purpose of collection; these types of pens have visceral designs. For a pen that is meant to write a lot, one will be looking for comfort and smooth writing as main criteria for selection; these pens have behavioural designs. Finally, one may use a pen to represent his or her personality, character, and class; these pens have reflective designs.

Visceral Pen Design:

This pen, if you see it at a store, will probably stand out to you before other pens because of its unique outlook. Although this may not been a good pen for practical purposes (bad ergonomic design), you may still buy it on impulse (and maybe regret it later). This type of pen employs colourful designs to appeal to consumers.

Behavioural Pen Design:

 

The pen above is a fairly common type of BIC pen. It has a rubber grip for increased comfort. The pen also employs a spring design to make the pen retractable to eliminate the need for a cap, as caps could be easily misplaced. This type of pen may not appeal immediately to the consumer in a store, but it is the type of pen people think of for the practical purpose of writing. For example, you may buy this pen if you need to take a lot of notes in class.

Reflective Pen Design:

 

This is a fountain pen with chrome finish. The cost of this pen is $150 USD. To put it plainly, it is the type of pen that a CEO of a company will use. This pen makes the user feel like he or she has high class and status. The average person may also carry a fountain pen for special occasions such as job interviews or formal business meetings.

Assignment 0: Bad Design

The bad design I researched today was poorly designed door handles (Ref: http://www.baddesigns.com/doors.html). Poorly designed door handles leave the user confused as to whether to push or pull in order to open the door. This particular story describes how two people were trapped between two doors because of this confusion. The experience caused the two some nervousness of being trapped. In the end, they learned one handle was for pulling and the other was for pushing, although they looked exactly same. This inconsistency is part of the bad design.

I can relate to what the two felt when they couldn't open the doors, as I have also experienced poorly designed handles myself. I have learned that vertical handles that look like "pull" handles are also commonly used for "push" handles. In general, I think if a door looks like it could be opened in either direction, then it should be designed that way.